


Hurt

by Wakefire



Series: you're a runner (why do you wanna kill yourself?) [1]
Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Minor Violence, Post-Mission: s01m09 A Voice in the Dark, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Slash, Vague spoilers of Janine's backstory maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 16:28:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11627394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wakefire/pseuds/Wakefire
Summary: Runner Five and Janine De Luca have been butting heads since Five arrived at Abel, but Janine's plan backfiring and leaving Five stranded in the night is the last straw. When Five finally gets back, she is /pissed/.





	Hurt

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this idea stuck in my head since I played the episode. I've shipped the generic Five with Sam since ep. 1, but then this happened and something just... clicked for me between my Five and Janine.

 

Runner Five stumbled through the gate in a choir of gunfire. It wasn’t the first time and nowhere near the last, but this one was marked by a blanket of darkness and her pulse racing so quick it felt like her heart might burst. She collapsed a few feet in, gasping for breath as her fingers dug into the gravel of the yard like the roots of a plant.

“Five? Five!” shouted Maxine as she rushed to the runner, followed by a couple other medical personnel. She closed the last remaining foot sliding on her knees, leaving tracks on the ground. “You’re here, you’re safe, they closed the gate. You’re home. Just breathe, Five, _breathe_.”

Maxine held on to Five, repeating the words like a mantra, listening to the _thump-thump-thump_ of her heart under her palms until it slowed down from the pre- heart attack pace. Five sat up on her calves and bend her head back, gazing towards the sky that dared to be starlit _now_ when she didn’t need the light anymore. Her face was whiter than some of the few remaining zoms scraping the wall.

“Come on, let’s get you out of those wet clothes and checked up”, Maxine murmured as she stood up and pulled the runner with her. Five staggered to her feet, but shook her head adamantly.

“No”, Five whispered. Maxine frowned.

“What do you mean ‘no’? You know the rules, once inside the gate every runner must -”

Five shook her head again and yanked herself out of Maxine’s grasp. “I’m fine”, she breathed. “I need to see someone.”

Five was vaguely aware of the medics and at least two armed guards on her trail as she walked towards her destination on shaking feet, powered by sheer determination. Some people might have expected her to go right, towards the comm shack – she had only been in Abel a few weeks and there were already rumors. But even though it was Sam’s voice, Sam’s hope and Sam’s inner light that had guided her home from the dark, that was not where Five’s legs were guiding her. Instead she headed towards the old stone building in the middle of the town with yellow light shining through the windows.

After a relatively short walk that took only a few minutes but felt like a small eternity, Five’s hand was on the door handle. In a clearer state of mind she might have wondered about the fact that the door was unlocked, but now she just stormed inside and slammed the door shut behind her. The windows were still rattling when she stomped into the den, where a lone figure sat by a rather complicated-looking setup of computers and other tech. The flames crackling in the fireplace cast shadows on the walls that made Five shudder.

“Runner Five”, Janine blinked as she glanced over her shoulder and stood up. It was the first time Five had ever seen, or heard, Janine honestly startled. “It really is you. I heard you -”

Janine couldn’t finish her sentence or take more than a few steps before Five grabbed the front of her flannel shirt and half lifted, half tossed her into the nearest wall.

“You did this!” Five yelled, her pupils like tiny black pins within her irises. “You almost got me killed!”

Janine’s shock quickly turned into deadly quiet ire. “Five, let go of me”, she spoke through gritted teeth.

Five ignored her. “What kind of a game are you playing? If you wanted me dead, there are easier ways. I thought you’d have the guts to at least shoot me yourself!”

She detached one hand from Janine’s shirt and curled it into a fist. It paused for the smallest moment, the blink of an eye, but Janine took advantage of that blink. She gripped Five’s wrist, pushed the younger woman off of her and spun them around in a quick maneuver that left Five trapped against the wall, arm bent behind her back in a very uncomfortable joint lock.

“I wasn’t trying to get you killed!” Janine shouted. “I made a mistake trusting those New Cantons, but I didn’t know about the trap! You need to calm down or I will pop out your shoulder.”

Five opened her mouth and struggled against the hold, but Janine tightened her grip and pressed her other arm harder against the back of Five’s neck. They stood like that for over a minute – Janine knew that because of the weary clicking of the grandfather clock in the corner – fighting without words or motion, tense like crossbow strings. Up close, Five smelled like sweat, blood, dirty ground and scraping tree branches in the dark; Five smelled like terror, and Janine swallowed as a lump gathered in her throat. Finally Five exhaled a long, shaky breath and Janine dared to loosen her grip, just a bit.

“I wasn’t trying to get you killed”, Janine repeated much more quietly. “I thought – honestly believed that – I wouldn’t have sent you out there if I had known what was gonna happen. Five, I’m sorry.”

Five sniffed. Her cheek was pressed against the rough wooden wall and Janine could only see half her face, but a drop of water gathered at Five’s chin.

“I kept thinking -” Five’s voice cracked, “I was stumbling through bushes and I had no idea where I was and I just kept wondering why, why you couldn’t just -” She swallowed and bit her lips together. “Why did you have send me to die out there, in the dark, alone. Hadn’t I done enough to at least deserve...”

Janine shook her head slowly, her mouth hanging slightly open. She let go of Five’s wrist and backed up half a step; Five’s fingers curled up again, but only to slam against the wall before her nails dug into the wood.

“Why on earth would I do that?” Janine asked. “I know we don’t exactly get along and I can be – _abrasive_ , but I didn’t think I’ve given you the impression that I wanted you to die.”

Five leaned her forehead against the wall, smearing it with dried blood. She turned around and slowly sank down to the floorline, burying her face in her knees as she hit the bottom. Janine knelt down beside her and raised up a hand that was left hovering in midair, uncertain whether the touch might set off another explosion.

“It’s not – it’s not you”, Five said, her voice muffled. “Before all this, in my old life, there were people that… They would have made me run until I wore out my usefulness and then sent me out there to die. The kind of people that take everything they can get from you and then throw you away because no matter what you do, you’re just not _enough_.” She lifted her head up wearily. There were glimmering streams on her cheeks among the dirt and the stinging cuts. “You wouldn’t know what that’s like. You probably think I’m pathetic.”

Janine shook her head and laid her hand on Five’s wrist, not to restrain, simply to touch. “No I don’t”, she assured. “Five, you were in a helicopter crash and jumped right into a runner’s shoes. You can be stubborn and impulsive and occasionally damn aggravating, but you have always been strong and relentless and brave. Never pathetic.”

Five smiled mildly. She was noticeably younger than Janine, but that smile belonged to someone much older. Janine got a sudden urge to find whoever had stolen those years from her and strangle them.

“Who was it that hurt you?” Janine asked quietly, even though she knew it wasn’t her business. It kind of just slipped out.

Five shrugged. “Doesn’t matter anymore”, she said. “They’re dead now. I mean, probably, I didn’t see it but it’s statistically likely.”

Janine uttered a chuckle. “Well, if they ever show their face in Abel, let me know. I’ll shoot them.”

Five laughed, a tired, raspy laugh, but still. She laid her other hand on top of Janine’s and squeezed. “That’s… the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Janine raised an eyebrow. “You need to hang around nicer people.”

Five snorted again. She let go of Janine’s hand and wiped her cheeks in her dirty fingerless glove, which wasn’t sanitary at all. “Janine, I’m sorry for barging in and roughing you up like that”, she whispered. “I was just so angry, not even really at you, I’m not – I wouldn’t have hit you.”

“I know”, Janine said. “I’ve seen you hit a punching bag, you’re faster than that.”

Five’s brow furrowed into a curious expression. “Speaking of punching, where the heck did you learn to do a joint lock like that?”

The corner of Janine’s mouth tugged and she stood up. “I’ll tell you later”, she said and reached out her hand. “Come on. You need to go get checked up before the entire guard bursts in here and breaks down my door.”

“Well there’s an incentive to keep staying alive”, Five huffed and took Janine’s hand, letting the older woman pull her up from the floor. They walked back to the front door, where Janine picked a blanket from the hanger and wrapped it around Five’s shivering shoulders before opening the door. There were five people with guns now, mostly assault rifles, pointed squarely at the runner.

“Put those down, she hasn’t been bitten!” Janine yelled. She then turned to Five and lowered her voice. “You haven’t been bitten, have you?”

Five glowered at her. “You think I would’ve run back here if I were? I’m not stupid!”

Janine rolled her eyes. Apparently the unfortunate incident hadn’t permanently traumatized Five. “Shut up before I’ll take that back.”

Janine walked Five all the way to the ex- storage building that now functioned as the medbay, never dropping her hands from the runner’s shoulders. Neither one mentioned it because neither one really noticed. The passers-by did and would talk about it for a week, but if any two people were immune to petty gossip, it was the head of Abel Township and its fearless new Runner Five.

 


End file.
